Air-pipe coupling.



W. J. ELLIS.

AIR PIPE COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1909.

950,663, Patented Mar. 1, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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AIR PIPE COUPLING. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9, 1909.

Patented Mar. 1, 1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM J. ELLIS, OF ANDREWS, NORTH CAROLINA.

AIR-PIPE COUPLING.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM J. ELLIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Andrews, in the county of Cherokee and State of NorthCarolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Air- PipeCouplings; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic air pipe couplersfor railroad and other cars.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved car couplingwhich will be adapted to form a conduit for compressed air and otherfluids and which is simple in construction and efficient in operationand which will prevent many accidents which so often occur in couplingcars.

By the use of this improved automatic coupler when a train is made upand coupled the parts of the coupler are assembled automatically and thetrain is ready to pull out without further manipulation of the coupler.WVhen a car is to be cut out or sidetracked, all that is necessary touncouple this improved coupler is to raise the carcoupler lever when theair pipe couplingmay be readily separated by a forward movement of oneof the cars, thus saving time and trouble and danger of accidents.

Another object of the invention is to provide a coupler which is cheapto manufacture and which will last indefinitely.

' With these and other objects in view, the invention consists ofcertain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement ofparts, as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out inthe appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing Figure 1 represents a side elevation of twodraw-bars equipped with the cooperative membersof this improved couplerand arranged in juxtaposition ready for connection. Fig. 2 is a similarview with the parts in operative position. Fig. 3 is a top plan viewwith the parts in operative position. Fig. 4t is a longitudinal verticalsection taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse verticalsection taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a detail perspectiveview of one of the coupling members detached. Fig. 7 is a side elevationof one of the Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 9, 1909.

Patented Mar. 1, 1910.

Serial No. 526,999.

springs of the coupling member showing its inner face. Fig. 8 is aperspective view of the plate which connects the coupling member to thedraw-bar.

In the embodiment illustrated a portion of a drawbar 1 of ordinaryconstruction is shown on which this improved coupler is mounted. It willbe understood that one of these draw-bars is arranged at each end of thecar and carries the usual Janney type car coupler 2 at its free end andthat it forms no part of this invention.

This improved air-pipe coupler comprises two complementary members 3 andl carried respectively by the draw-bars at opposite ends of the car andwhich are designed for connection with similar members carried byadjacent cars to be coupled. These members 3 and 4. being counterpartsof each other, one only will be described in detail. As shown, themember 3 comprises a head 5 having a recess 6 formed at one side thereofwith a longitudinally extending hollow member 7 arranged at its otherside and having an aperture 8 which discharges or opens into said recess6. A rubber bushing 9 is arranged around this opening 8 and a plate 10is preferably arranged thereover with a portion of the bushingprojecting beyond the plate around the opening to form an air-tightconnection with the bushing of the cooperating member to prevent the airfrom leaking at the point of connection of the two members. This plate1() permits the parts to slide on each other without danger of tearingthe rubber as would occur if the whole face of the bushing were leftexposed.

A tubular member 7 connected with the hollow member 7 projects beyondthe rear face of the head 5 and is preferably provided with a reducedfree end for insertion within the rubber hose or other pipe not shown.It will be understood that this hose or rubber pipe, not shown, must bemade sufficiently long to permit the coupler to have plenty of play toprevent its pulling apart when the train is in motion.

A laterally extending lug 12 is arranged on the outer face of the hollowmember 7 and the front and rear ends thereof are beveled or rounded toprovide for its ready insertion in and removal from an opening in thespring member of the cooperating coupler member secured to the adjacentcar as will be hereinafter more fully described.

A spring plate 13 is secured on the head 5 to close one side'of therecess 6 and is arranged diametrically opposite the hollow member 7disposed on the opposite side of the head. This spring plate 13 may besecured to the head by any suitable means and is provided with anaperture 14 designed to engage the laterally extending lug 12 on theouter face of the complementary coupling member carried by the othercar. The free end of this spring plate 13 is preferably beveled orflared outward on its inner face and is provided on its inner face witha recess 15 which tapers toward theaperture 14 and is designed to form aguide for the lug 12 of the complementary coupling and is especiallyuseful for coupling cars of diffen ent heights engaging the said lug andforcing the coupler into position to bring the ends of the membersthereof together and provide a perfect coupling. This head 5 isconnected with the draw-bar 1 by means of a Z-shaped fastening plate 16,one horizontal arm 17 of which is secured to the draw-bar, preferably bymeans of screws or bolts with the other arm 18 extending outwardly anddesigned to form a support for said head 5, the extension 7 of thehollow member 7 thereof being passed through an aperture 19 in thevertical portion 20 of the member 16. The lower or outer face of the arm17 of the Z-shaped plate 16 is preferably grooved longitudinally asshown at 21 to permit the tubular extension 7 to fit therein and toprevent lateral movement of said member.

lVhen two cars are to be coupled, the coupling members carried by therespective cars are arranged in the position shown in Fig. l and themovement of the cars toward each other causes the tubular member 7 ofone member to engage the recess 6 of the other member and connect themand the laterally extending lugs 12 thereof to engage the apertures 14in the spring plates 13 as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the a1r pipes aresecurely coupled and accidental disengagement thereof prevented, itbeing understood that the couplers 2 carry all the strain exerted by thecars and when these couplers are disconnected the pull of one car willdisengage the couplers 3 and 4.

The heads 5 are preferably provided on their upper and lower faces atone side with beveled lower faces as 22 and at their other sides withoppositely beveled upper faces as 23. These oppositely beveled faces 22and 23 of each member are arranged side by side as is clearly shown inFig. 6 of the drawings and the beveled lower face 22 on one couplermember is designed to overlap and engage the outer beveled upper face 23of the other coupler member, and the beveled upper face thereofunderlaps and engages the beveled lower face of the other member to forma tight joint as shown in Fig. 3.

The heads as 5 are held against longitudinal movement in the aperturesof the plates 16 by any suitable means, preferably by means of laterallyextending stops 24 and 25 which engage the outer faces of the verticalmember 20 of the plate 16.

From the foregoing description, taken in tages of the invention, asdefined in the ap-.

pended claims.

I claim as my invention: 7

1. In an air pipe coupling, a coupler head having a longitudinalextension at one side of the front end thereof provided'with alongitudinal bore opening through the inner face of said extension, atubular extension arranged on the rear of said head with the borethereof communicating with the bore in said head and in said frontextension, a rubber bushing arranged on the inner face of said frontextension around the opening therein, an apertured metal plate arrangedover said bushing with a portion of the bushing projecting beyond theplate around the opening to form an air tight connection with thebushing of the cooperating member, and a member arranged on the oppositeside of said head and spaced laterally from said front extension andprovided with means for detachably engaging a cooperating couplermember.

2. An air pipe coupling comprising two cooperating members, eachprovided with a head having a recess extending longitudie nally inwardfrom the free end thereof with a spring plate arranged at one side ofsaid recess and having an aperture therein, a hollow member arranged atthe other side of said recess and having an aperture opening into saidrecess, a rubber bushing arranged around said aperture, a laterallyextending lug projecting from the outer face of said hollow member andadapted to engage the recess in said spring plate, and means forsecuring each head to a draw-bar.

3. An air pipe coupling comprising two cooperating members each providedwith a head having a recess extending inwardly from the free end thereofwith a spring plate arranged at one side of said recess and having anaperture therein, said spring plate also having an outwardly flaredrecess on its inner face extending outwardly from the aperture in saidplate, a hollow member ar-' ranged at the other side of said recess andhaving an aperture openinginto said recess, a tubular member extendingrearwardly from said hollow member, a Z-shaped plate adapted forconnection to a draw-bar and In testimony whereof I have hereunto sethavlng an aperture 1n 1ts lntermedlate memmy hand 1n presence of twosubscribing Wither for the passage of sald tubular member nesses.

, and a collateral projection on the outer face WILLIAM J. ELLIS. 5 ofsaid hollow member for engaging an Witnesses:

aperture in the spring plate of a companion OHELGY TATHAM,

head. RALPH CHAMBERS.

